Hey everyone! Ok, so for this next post, I really wanted to talk about Morgantina. I know y’all didn’t go there, but this archaeological site was so neat and filled with cool finds, plus there was a really friendly dog there. One of the coolest things about Morgantina was the fact that one of my professors, Professor Leigh Liebermann, had worked on the site, so how could we not like this place? One of the things that she pointed out to us herself were the mounds of votive offerings here (not pictured), which was a little overwhelming to think about from an archaeologist’s perspective (so much sorting to do!) but also still super interesting.
Although there has been a settlement in Morgantina ever since the Bronze Age, the Greek Morgantinian colony was thought to have been founded in the fifth to sixth century BC. Sometime around the third century BC, The part most archaeologists are concerned with right now, however, is the third century BC material. The most notable parts of the archaeological site include the baths (top picture) and the agora (bottom picture). While the agora marks this community as one with clearly Greek roots, the bath-house is a little trickier to define. Being a recent excavation, it also is a little more ambiguous as the discovery of artifacts is ongoing. Greek bath houses traditionally have individual tubs, and the Morgantina bath complex does contain these. However, it also contains connected rooms, which is a trait generally only observed in Roman bath houses. In addition, “the communal immersion pool with hypocaust channels” is also absent from this newly discovered bath house (Lucore 6). Whether or not the baths can be characterized as fully Greek in style is still up for debate, and likely will become more clear as the excavations on the baths continue. Perhaps one day, I’ll even be back to see the Morgantina site and the baths excavated in their entirety for myself! :)
Works Cited:
Liebermann, Leigh.”Morgantina Site.” Sicily Centro Trip. Morgantina, Piazza Armerina. Oct. 2016. Lecture.
Lucore, Sandra K., and Monidka Trumper. “American Excavations at Morgantina – South Baths Project 2013 Preliminary Report.” Morgantina. Web. <http://morgantina.org/>.